Earlier in the day, Iran said “they were close to an agreement on Sunday Morning”. The core dispute is about uranium enrichment: the USA proposed a 20-year plan while Iran proposed a single-digit timeframe plan (5 years).
Then, a report from the New York Post raised market optimism by claiming Iranian officials were studying (or still studying) the idea of abandoning uranium enrichment entirely in exchange for an end to the war.
One thing that complicated negotiations in Islamabad (Pakistan) was that Iran’s delegation was not able to contact their leader in Iran (due to safety reason). Therefore, they could not take any decision on a such sensitive topic as nuclear is. As a matter of fact, an Iranian negotiator even said: "How can we trust you when, in the last Geneva meeting, you said the U.S. would not attack while diplomacy was under way?" ... 2 days later USA and Israel attacked Iran in February 28 2026 which was the beginning of the current war. This explains why Iranian leaders did not communicate with their negotiators in Pakistan because it could have revealed their position and made them a target for a direct strike.
Trump commented that Iran wants to make a deal (nothing new) and “were called this morning by the right people from Iran”. More importantly, Trump said that the ceasefire would continue until the following Tuesday (Tuesday April 21), which would complete the 2 weeks ceasefire; stock market appreciated this comment because the risk was that the “failed negotiations” over the weekend (that did not end up on a deal) might compromise the 2 weeks ceasefire (which is one of the reasons that market gap down Sunday). The fact that Trump said the ceasefire would continue until the end of the ceasefire means that the “failed negotiations” only failed to deliver a quick deal, but both parties are still open to further negotiations which is a good sign to reach a future deal.
Next negotiation round might be Thursday April 16. Vance said that Iran negotiators lacked the authority to commit to an agreement, but thinks that a deal is achievable.
Links:
https://investinglive.com/news/trump-vance-has-done-a-good-job-on-iran-talks-they-want-to-make-a-deal-badly-20260413/ https://investinglive.com/news/iran-thought-they-were-close-to-an-agreement-on-sunday-morning-report-20260413/
https://investinglive.com/news/iran-officials-are-studying-abandoning-enrichment-report-20260413/
https://investinglive.com/news/us-iran-direct-talks-may-resume-on-thursday-20260413/
